The battle is on.
For the first time in the history of the ATP Tour, a year-end No. 1 ranking will all come down to the final match of the season between the top two players in the world.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will be squaring off for the 35th time in their careers when they bid for both the top spot in the rankings and the title of the World Tour Finals on Sunday. Djokovic is leading the head-to-head series 24-10, including 13-2 in their last 15 encounters dating back to the start of 2014 and 5-1 in their last six dating back to last fall.
They have faced each other four times this season, with Djokovic triumphing in the Australian Open and French Open finals in addition to the Madrid championship match. Murray’s lone victory came in the final of the Rome Masters.
Since his Roland Garros loss to Djokovic, Murray has been the man on a mission. The Scot has stolen the No. 1 ranking from his rival by winning seven of his last nine tournaments–a stretch that includes Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics, and each of this fall’s Masters events (Shanghai and Paris). He is 49-3 in his last 52 matches dating back to Queen’s Club and 23-0 in his last 23 matches overall.
Murray is 4-0 this week in London, but it certainly hasn’t been easy. In fact, he has played the two longest matches this event has seen since it moved to the O2 Arena in 2009. Murray outlasted Kei Nishikori 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 20 minutes on Wednesday and saved one match point before winning a 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) semifinal thriller against Milos Raonic that lasted three hours and 38 minutes on Saturday afternoon. He also scored more routine straight-set victories over Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka.
Also undefeated in London, Djokovic endured a three-setter against Dominic Thiem to begin his week and then needed two tiebreakers to scrape past Raonic. But the world No. 2 picked up the pace in a hurry to crush David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 and to clobber Nishikori 6-1, 6-1 in Saturday’s second semifinal. Nishikori had been coming off a three-set loss to Cilic on Friday night.
Now Djokovic has a date with another fatigued opponent–and with history.
“I must say that I’m very honored to be part of the history,” he commented. “I hear this is the first time in the history of the ATP that the two best players are deciding the rankings in the last match. That is something we should all be conscious of. I’m excited to go out on the court and battle.”
“I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow,” Murray said in his press conference. “Obviously (I’m) tired just now because it was a really hard match. Tomorrow is the last day for a while; (I) get a break after that. I’ll just give my best of what I’ve got tomorrow. Hopefully it’s enough.”
Many thought Murray’s best–which has been on display for the past five months–would be enough this week. But now he is going up against the toughest of opponents under the most difficult of circumstances. Not only has Djokovic dominated their recent head-to-head meetings, but he is also an unbelievable 23-1 in his last 24 matches at a tournament in which only the best players are invited.
To be the best you have to beat the best, and that is exactly what Djokovic has done in recent years. He will likely do it again on Sunday.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
[polldaddy poll=9584812]
Leave a Reply